“Hm. Didn’t you use to be a lot smaller?”
“Yes,” said Jinx. “Because I used to be six.”
― quote from Jinx
“...if you spent all your time being protected, you never got to find out anything new.”
― quote from Jinx
“I was banished,” said Reven proudly.
“What for?” Elfwyn pressed.
“The king said I was anathema.”
“He doesn’t like athemas?”
“Anathema means, like, accursed,” said Jinx. “Probably it was for robbing people.”
― quote from Jinx
“I’m not sure how people drink out of skulls,” Jinx added. Calvin had too many holes in him to make a good cup.”
― quote from Jinx
“I’ll accompany you too, fair lady,” said Reven. “I would fain meet your grandmother.”
“You would what?” said Elfwyn.
“He means he’d like to,” said Jinx. Some of the books in Simon’s house used old-fashioned words like that.”
― quote from Jinx
“Many things in life are difficult," said Reven, choosing his words carefully. "But to those who persevere, all things are possible. ”
― quote from Jinx
“Life is dangerous," said Simon. "Young people need to see the world.”
― quote from Jinx
“The king killed his brother, who was actually king, so that he could be king. Then the dead king’s wife and baby disappeared, on account the baby would’ve been king, so the brother probably killed them, too. They do that kind of thing all the time, kings do. They can kill anybody they don’t like.”
― quote from Jinx
“We all know the elementary form of politeness, that of the empty symbolic gesture, a gesture-an offer-which is meant to be rejected. In John Irving's A Prayer for
Owen Meany, after the little boy Owen accidentally kills John's-his best friend's, the narrator's-mother, he is, of course, terribly upset, so, to show how sorry he is, he discreetly delivers to John a gift of the complete collection of color photos of baseball stars, his most precious possession; however, Dan, John's delicate stepfather, tells him that the proper thing to do is to return the gift. What we have here is symbolic exchange at its purest: a gesture made to be rejected; the point, the "magic" of symbolic exchange, is that, although at the end we are where we were at the beginning, the overall result of the operation is not zero but a distinct gain for both parties, the pact of solidarity. And is not something similar part of our everyday mores? When, after being engaged in a fierce competition for a job promotion with my closest friend, I win, the proper thing to do is to offer to withdraw, so that he will get the promotion, and the proper thing for him to do is to reject my offer-in this way, perhaps, our friendship can be saved....
Milly's offer is the very opposite of such an elementary gesture of politeness: although it also is an offer that is meant to be rejected, what makes hers different from the symbolic empty offer is the cruel alternative it imposes on its addressee: I offer you wealth as the supreme proof of my saintly kindness, but if you accept my offer, you will be marked by an indelible stain of guilt and moral corruption; if you do the right thing and reject it, however, you will also not be simply righteous-your very rejection will function as a retroactive admission of your guilt, so whatever Kate and Densher do, the very choice Milly's bequest confronts them with makes them guilty.”
― Slavoj Žižek, quote from The Parallax View
“the value of work? Have I taught them self-reliance? Have I taught them to take care of each”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Codex
“But he discovered that his thoughts and inspirations were like the intimations of a dream, which always seem inspired at the time but prove utterly shallow and useless to the waking mind.”
― Thomas Mann, quote from Death in Venice and Seven Other Stories
“Desperation will drive you to do things you know will never make you whole again and even to lose the very thing you’re desperate for.”
― Laura Miller, quote from My Butterfly
“I was looking forward to my visit to the library. I’ve always been a big reader and thought I might eventually volunteer as a Friend of the Library.”
― Debbie Macomber, quote from The Inn at Rose Harbor
The Go-Between
The Cave
The Freedom Writers...
Dark Prince
An Equal Music
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